Holding device

ABSTRACT

A holding device is mounted between a vehicle&#39;s windshield and has a base, a stabilizing panel and a bracket. The base is attached detachably to the windshield. The stabilizing panel is mounted pivotally on the base and is attached detachably to the dashboard. The bracket is mounted slidably on the base and connects to the stabilizing panel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a holding device, especially to aholding device that holds a portable electronic device and is used invehicles.

2. Description of the Prior Arts

As modern technology has progressed, portable electronic appliances arewidely used. For example, most modern vehicles are usually equipped withone or more electronic devices such as a global positioning system (GPS)to assist a person driving the vehicle. If the electronic device is notmounted securely in the vehicle, the electronic device easily falls downor hits other things when the vehicle speeds up, brakes or turns.Therefore, electronic devices are often fastened to an unmovable holdingdevice or a movable holding device in the vehicle. However, an unmovableholding device does not allow the electronic device to be moved to adesired place. Furthermore, conventional movable holding devices onlyuse a simple structure such as a suction cup to mount the movableholding device in the vehicle. Because the simple structure usually canbe detached easily, the simple structure often does not hold theconventional movable holding device securely in place in the vehicle.Thus, the electronic device mounted in the conventional movable holdingdevice still cannot be mounted securely in the vehicle.

To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a holdingdevice to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the present invention is to provide a holdingdevice that can be moved to a desired place in a vehicle having awindshield and a dashboard and is also securely mounted in the vehicle.The holding device is mounted between a vehicle's windshield anddashboard and has a base, a stabilizing panel and a bracket. The base isattached detachably to the windshield. The stabilizing panel is mountedpivotally on the base and is attached detachably to the dashboard. Thebracket is mounted slidably on the base and connects to the stabilizingpanel.

Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention willbecome more apparent from the following detailed description when takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a holding devicein accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the holding device in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the holding device in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an operational side view in partial section of the holdingdevice in FIG. 1 holding an electronic device;

FIG. 5 is an operational perspective view of a second embodiment of aholding device in accordance with the present invention holding anelectronic device;

FIG. 6 is an operational perspective view of a third embodiment of aholding device in accordance with the present invention holding anelectronic device; and

FIG. 7 is an operational side view of the holding device in FIG. 1mounted securely in a vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a holding device in accordance with thepresent invention comprises a base (10), a stabilizing panel (20), abracket (30) and may have a connecting assembly (40).

With further reference to FIG. 5, the base (10) may have a front end, arear end, a top, a bottom, multiple hinge barrels (11), a nonskid pad(14) and a mounting rail (12) or a slot (13). The hinge barrels (11) areformed on and protrude from the front end of the base (10). The nonskidpad (14) is attached securely to the bottom of the base (10), may be amaterial that has great friction such as rubber, a tacky polymer or thelike, has a distal side and may have multiple teeth (141) or multipleconcave recesses. The teeth (141) are formed on the distal side of thenonskid pad (14). The concave recesses are formed in the distal side ofthe base (10). The mounting rail (12) is formed longitudinally on thetop of the base (10) and has a top and a flange (121). The flange (121)is formed transversely on the top of the mounting rail (12). The slot(13) is formed longitudinally in the top of the base (10) and has abottom, two sides, two fastening recesses (131) and an opening. Thefastening recesses (131) are formed respectively in the two sides of theslot (13) adjacent to the bottom of the slot (13). The opening of theslot (13) is formed in the rear end of the base (10).

With further reference to FIG. 3, the stabilizing panel (20) is mountedpivotally on the base (10), has a front surface, a bottom end, a rearsurface, and a connecting pad (23) and may have multiple hinge barrels(21) and a fastening protrusion (22). The connecting pad (23) isattached securely to the front surface of the stabilizing panel (20),may be a material that has great friction such as rubber, a tackypolymer or the like and may have a distal side and multiple teeth ormultiple concave recesses (231). The teeth are formed on the distal sideof the connecting pad (23). The concave recesses (231) are formed in thedistal side of the connecting pad (23). The hinge barrels (21) areformed on and protrude from the bottom end of the stabilizing panel (20)and correspond to and align with the hinge barrels (11) on the base(10). The fastening protrusion (22) is formed on and protrudes from therear surface of the stabilizing panel (20) and has a central hole.

With further reference to FIG. 6, the bracket (30) is mounted slidablyon the base (10), connects to the stabilizing panel (20), may beL-shaped or T-shaped and may comprise a main bar (31) and a branch bar(32). The main bar (31) is mounted slidably on the base (10), has a topsurface and may have a bottom surface, a fastening protrusion (33) and aslot (311) or a mounting rail (313). The slot (311) is formedlongitudinally in the bottom surface of the main bar (31), is mountedslidably on the mounting rail (12) on the base (10) and has two sidesand two fastening recesses (312). The fastening recesses (312) areformed respectively in the two sides of the slot (311) and engage theflange (121) on the mounting rail (12) on the base (10) to hold thebracket (30) on the base (10). The mounting rail (313) is formedlongitudinally on and protrudes from the bottom surface of the main bar(31), is mounted slidably in the slot (13) in the base (10) and has abottom surface and a flange (314). The flange (314) is formedtransversely on the bottom surface of the mounting rail (313) andengages the fastening recesses (131) in the slot (13) in the base (10)to hold the bracket (30) on the base (10). The branch bar (32) is formedon and protrudes perpendicularly from the top surface of the main bar(31). The fastening protrusion (33) is formed on and protrudes from thetop surface of the main bar (31) and has a central hole.

The connecting assembly (40) is mounted between the stabilizing panel(20) and the base (10) or the bracket (30) and comprises a connectingrod (41), a pivot pin (42) and a torsion spring (43). The connecting rod(41) connects to the stabilizing panel (20) and the bracket (30), hastwo ends and may have two hooks (411). The hooks (411) are formedrespectively on the ends of the connecting rod (41) and respectivelyengage the central holes in the fastening protrusions (22, 33) on thestabilizing panel (20) and the bracket (30). The pivot pin (42) extendsthrough the aligned hinge barrels (11, 21) on the base (10) and thestabilizing panel (20) to connect the stabilizing panel (20) pivotallyto the base (10). The torsion spring (43) is mounted around the pivotpin (42) and presses against the base (10) and the stabilizing panel(20) to force the rear surface of the stabilizing panel (20) away fromthe top of the base (10).

With further reference to FIGS. 4 and 7, the holding device as describedis mounted in a vehicle (80) to hold an electronic device (70). Thevehicle (80) has a windshield (50) and a dashboard (60) with a top. Thenonskid pad (14) on the base (10) is mounted on the top of the dashboard(60) by the teeth (141), and the connecting pad (23) on the stabilizingpanel (20) is attached to the windshield (50) by the concave recesses(231). Therefore, the holding device not only can be moved to a desiredplace but also is mounted securely in the vehicle (80) with the frictionbetween nonskid pad (14), dashboard (60), the stabilizing panel (20) andthe windshield (50).

Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the presentinvention have been set forth in the foregoing description, togetherwith details of the structure and features of the invention, thedisclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details,especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts withinthe principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by thebroad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims areexpressed.

1. A holding device comprising: a base; a stabilizing panel mountedpivotally on the base and having a front surface; a bottom end; a rearsurface; and a connecting pad being attached securely to the frontsurface of the stabilizing panel; and a bracket being mounted slidablyon the base and connecting to the stabilizing panel.
 2. The holdingdevice as claimed in claim 1, wherein the base has a bottom; a frontend; a rear end; a top; and a nonskid pad being attached to the bottomof the base and having a distal side.
 3. The holding device as claimedin claim 2 further comprising a connecting assembly mounted between thestabilizing panel, the base and the bracket, wherein the base furtherhas multiple hinge barrels formed on and protruding from the front endof the base; the stabilizing panel further has multiple hinge barrelsformed on the bottom end of the stabilizing panel; and the connectingassembly comprises a connecting rod connecting to the stabilizing paneland the bracket and having two ends; a pivot pin extending through thealigned hinge barrels on the base and the stabilizing panel; and atorsion spring being mounted around the pivot pin and pressing againstthe base and the stabilizing panel.
 4. The holding device as claimed inclaim 2, wherein the nonskid pad on the base has multiple teeth formedon the distal side of the nonskid pad.
 5. The holding device as claimedin claim 2, wherein the connecting pad of the stabilizing panel has adistal side and multiple concave recesses formed in the distal side. 6.The holding device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the bracket comprisesa main bar being mounted slidably on the base and having a top surface;and a branch bar being formed on and protruding perpendicularly from thetop surface of the main bar.
 7. The holding device as claimed in claim6, wherein the stabilizing panel further has a fastening protrusionbeing formed on and protruding from the rear surface of the stabilizingpanel and having a central hole; the main bar of the bracket further hasa fastening protrusion being formed on and protruding from the topsurface of the main bar and having a central hole; and the connectingrod further has two hooks being formed respectively on the ends of theconnecting rod and respectively engaging the central holes in thefastening protrusions on the stabilizing panel and the bracket.
 8. Theholding device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the base further has amounting rail being formed longitudinally on the top of the base andhaving a top; and a flange being formed transversely on the top of themounting rail; and the main bar of the bracket has a bottom surface; anda slot being formed longitudinally in the bottom surface of the mainbar, being mounted slidably on the mounting rail on the base and havingtwo sides; and two fastening recesses being formed respectively in thetwo sides of the slot and engaging the flange on the mounting rail onthe base.
 9. The holding device as claimed in claim 6, wherein thebracket is T-shaped.
 10. The holding device as claimed in claim 6,wherein the bracket is L-shaped.
 11. The holding device as claimed inclaim 7, wherein the base further has a slot being formed longitudinallyin the top of the base and having a bottom; two sides; two fasteningrecesses being formed respectively in the two sides of the slot adjacentto the bottom of the slot; and an opening being formed in the rear endof the base; and the main bar of the bracket has a bottom surface; and amounting rail being formed longitudinally on and protruding from thebottom surface of the main bar, being mounted slidably in the slot inthe base and having a bottom surface; and a flange being formedtransversely on the bottom surface of the mounting rail and engaging thefastening recesses in the slot of the base.